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VANCOUVER — Having spent years focused on their athletic careers in track and football, and more recently bobsleigh, Justin Kripps and Jesse Lumsden might be a little short on transferable workplace skills.

Unless, of course, you’re looking for a couple of big strong guys to push something. Anything.

Trading on that well-honed ability to quick-burst a bobsleigh out of a sliding track start — and keen to land some new sponsors — the Canadian Olympians unveiled a funny, one-minute video on Wednesday designed to entice corporations or individuals to help get them to the podium in Sochi.

Lumsden’s response — “We push stuff” — leads to shots of the burly athletes charging through an office with their hands on the side of a mail delivery cart, pushing grocery carts through a parking lot and serving as hospital orderlies.

“The whole thing was Jesse’s idea and when he told me about it, I thought it was an awesome idea,” says Kripps, a one-time Simon Fraser University track athlete from Summerland.

He was fifth as a brakeman in Pierre Lueders’ four-man sled at the 2010 Olympics and now pilots the Canada 3 sled on the World Cup circuit. He was 12th in two-man at the 2013 world championships in Switzerland.

“It was really fun bringing (the video) to life. Hopefully, it captures the attention of corporate executives who might want to join us and gain some exposure for their brand.”

Lumdsen, a one-time CFL running back who now is one of Canada’s top brakemen, said the two aren’t looking for millions and want to establish relationships with companies that see a value in aligning with athlete/role models pursuing excellence.

“If I was going to launch a fundraising campaign, I wanted to do it right and prove to potential partners that I’m willing to put myself out there, be different, be creative and get people’s attention,” said Lumsden.

The video is being shown on national TV networks. And it was also slated to be on the Jumbotron at the Calgary Flames home game Wednesday night, where Kripps and Lumsden planned to hand out toques and tickets to the first World Cup bobsleigh/skeleton races of the season at Canada Olympic Park Nov. 25-30.

Kripps, 26, said he’s not surprised sponsorship dollars have fallen off given the tough economy.

“But it’s disappointing because when you look at the leadup to 2010 and the big increase then in corporate sponsors and (Own the Podium) funding, it was no accident that Canada won 14 golds. Athletes had the freedom to train full time and focus on their goals.”

Kripps has just a couple of small, individual sponsorships and figures that this season, as he tries to qualify for Sochi, will cost him $30,000 more than what he gets from Sport Canada carding.

“The thing is, it’s an Olympic year and I’ll do what I need to do no matter what and worry about it after the Olympics, but spending money you don’t have is stressful.”

Two summers ago, Kripps worked full-time as a personal trainer, but says it took away from his own training program. This past summer, he concentrated fully on that program.

“I’m already seeing the results,” he said after posting some good finishes last weekend in North American Cup races in Calgary. “I’m training right, resting and eating good food. It’s expensive, but it really makes a difference.”

Canada’s top two pilots, 2010 bronze medallist Lyndon Rush and Chris Spring, skipped the NAC races to get in some pre-Olympic training time on the track in Sochi. But the top Russian teams, including reigning four-man world champion Alexander Zubkov, some of the top U.S. sliders and teams from the Netherlands, Jamaica and Australia, were at Calgary.

Kripps and new brakeman Bryan Barnett, a 2008 Canadian Olympian in the sprints, were fifth and third in a field of 35 in the two-man. Kripps, James McNaughton, Tim Randall and Graeme Rinholm also finished second behind Zubkov in a couple of four-man races.

Kripps said it was a difficult decision to skip training in Sochi, but that it was ultimately “the right call,” because it allowed him to earn some valuable FIBT points and improve his World Cup seeding.

“I think I’m ahead of schedule as a pilot,” said Kripps. “I’ve finally got some really good equipment in two-man and four-man and the team is pushing really well. I think we’re going to raise some eyebrows this season.”

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Canadian Olympians Jesse Lumsden, Justin Kripps ‘push stuff’ — and then some — in fundraising video

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